


Of Bed Rest and Soap Operas

by SugdenLovesDingle



Series: Robert week 2017 [3]
Category: Emmerdale
Genre: M/M, soap opera addict!Robert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-06
Updated: 2017-09-06
Packaged: 2018-12-24 15:11:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12015387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SugdenLovesDingle/pseuds/SugdenLovesDingle
Summary: Robert Week Day 3: Free Day





	Of Bed Rest and Soap Operas

“Doctor said bed rest, so you’re on bed rest.” Aaron said in his strict dad voice as Liv liked to call it. It never worked on her and by the looks of things it didn’t work on his husband either.

“But what am I supposed to do all day?” Robert asked. “You’ll be at work, Liv’s at school… or well… she should be… I’ll go stir crazy!”

“Rest! That’s the whole point of this bed rest thing.”

“I can work. I can do paperwork. I’ll come to the yard with you and I promise I’ll stay in the portacabin all day.” Robert said and gingerly swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up and hobbled over to their wardrobe.

“Rob…” Aaron sighed.

“What? I’m fine. It’s just a few bumps and bruises. It’s nothing.”

“That’s not what the doctor said.”

“Aaron, I’m fine. We’ll take my car and you can drive and I promise I’ll take it easy.”

“Your car is still at the garage.”

“What? Why? The accident was over a week ago. There wasn’t that much damage.”

“No but I told Cain to take his time with it. Because I know you’d overdo it if your car was right here.”

Robert wanted to protest but he knew Aaron was right.

“As long as I can see the bruise from the seatbelt on your chest, you’re following doctor’s orders.”

“Aaron, it’s been a week. I’m fine.”

“No you’re not. And if you don’t stay in bed and rest I’m sending mum over to babysit you. Or Charity.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. But do you really want to take your chances?” Aaron grinned.

“Fine.” Robert sighed and sat down on the bed again. “At least help me get downstairs. I really will go crazy if I have to stare at our bedroom wall all day.”

“You can look out the window.” Aaron suggested, trying not to laugh.

“Aaron, don’t be a dick. Just help me please.”

“How? Do you want me to carry you? The doctor said you’re supposed to stay off that knee as much as possible.”

“Just… help me get to the stairs. I’ll do the rest myself.”

“Fifteen minutes and a lot of swearing later, Robert was sat on their sofa downstairs, knee propped up on a pillow and his laptop and the TV’s remote control within reach on the coffee table.

“I can make my own breakfast, you know.”

“Not right now you can’t. There would be more tea on the floor than in your mug if you hobbled around with it.” Aaron replied, handing him a mug and putting a plate with a few slices toast on the table. “Just let me take care of you. You can return the favour when you’re better.”

Robert rolled his eyes but didn’t say anything.

“Liv should be home around 2. I’ll knock off early and be home around 4 ok? I’ll do the shopping on the way home.”

“I can order online. Make myself useful while I’m stuck here.”

“And wait three days before they can deliver? And discover they didn’t have half of what we ordered?”

“That was one time.” Robert muttered.

“I’ll just stop by Tesco on the way home. Get some of those chocolate biscuits you like. The fancy ones.” Aaron said and sat down next to Robert. “Just relax today, yeah? You only got out of hospital 2 days ago.”

“And I’m already bored out of my mind.” Robert complained.

“Don’t pout.” Aaron chuckled and kissed him. “Just take it easy. Read that book you bought when we were in Wales. You keep saying you barely have time to read.”

“I can read at my desk in the portacabin.”

“Nice try. You’re staying put mister Dingle. Charity is only a phone call away.”

“Aaron we have to go NOW or I’ll be late.” Liv said as she all but ran down the stairs and snatched a slice of toast from Robert’s plate. “Hi Rob, bye Rob.”

Robert smiled. At least someone was sticking to their regular morning routine.

“Hi Liv, bye Liv.”

“I’ll call you when I get the chance ok? And I’ll be home as early as possible.” Aaron promised and pressed another kiss to Robert’s lips.

“Go. I’ll be fine. I can always call Diane to come keep me company. Or maybe Doug so I can catch up on some sleep.”

Aaron laughed and squeezed Robert’s thigh before getting up and following Liv out the door.

After finishing his breakfast, Robert opened his laptop and decided to catch up on some emails to at least give him the feeling of not completely wasting the day. However, it seemed Nicola had had a productive few days and there wasn’t much in the Home James inbox altogether.

His personal account was as uneventful as his work one. Some spam, a few newsletters, super special offers on junk they didn’t need, and an apology filled email from Vic who was visiting their grandmother in Spain and felt bad about not being able to be there for him after his accident. He looked through the photos she’d attached and promised himself he’d take Aaron and Liv to meet Annie as soon as he could. He typed a reply to Vic, insisting he was fine and she didn’t need to feel bad or worry about him. 

After messing around online for a while and trying and failing, to finally beat the level of candy crush he’d been stuck on for a week, he got bored and turned on the TV. He watched the news for a while until he was satisfied a nuclear war wasn’t starting just yet and came to the conclusion most world leaders were still crazy. Flicking through channels, looking for something remotely interesting, he stumbled across some cooking show where the contestants actually seemed to know what they were doing. One of his biggest pet peeves was people competing in these shows when they could barely boil water. He always ended up ranting about it to Aaron who in turn would tell him to shut up before he’d do it for him. His method usually consisted of kissing Robert until he could barely remember his own name. Robert never complained.

The show ended and Robert wanted to change the channel, only the remote control had vanished. He started digging through the sofa cushions until a familiar sound from the TV caught his attention. The soap his mum used to love.

Suddenly he was 6 years old again, home sick from school after having had his tonsils removed and cuddling his mum while they watched the show together. He vaguely recognised a man consoling a dark haired girl of about his age.

_“I thought she loved me! That we were good together!” The girl on screen said in between sobs._

_“Amy loves you, you know she does.” The man told her. “You two are the most solid couple around here. Everyone knows you love each other.”_

The girl shrugged and wiped her eyes with her sleeve and the scene changed and Robert’s interest was piqued. A quick google search told him the man in the scene with the girl was indeed the same actor his mum had liked and the girl played his daughter Mila.

His bisexual daughter.

Who was in a relationship with Amy, the local vet, who had apparently come out as gay in her very first scene on the show.

_“I do love her.” Mila said. “But we had this massive fight over Will and Oliver. Mostly Will. She doesn’t trust him.”_

_“Well he’s your ex-husband. Maybe she’s just a little nervous about your ex being back in town.”_

_“He’s here to see Oliver! What am I supposed to do? Tell Ollie he can’t see his dad because his mum’s girlfriend can’t handle it? Because she thinks I’ll run off with him?”_

_“I think you two should have a night in and talk to each other. Have a proper conversation.” Mila’s dad, told her. “Go. I’ll pick up Oliver from school and he can hang out with his granddad for the night.”_

_“I can’t. I can’t close the shop. It’s bad enough that I left Leon on his own out there now.”_

_“Your brother will be fine for a few hours. Go talk to your girl.”_

The scene changed again to other characters and stories Robert didn’t know or care about. He couldn’t believe there was someone like him on some random soap. He’d never met another bi person before (or maybe he had, but before Aaron he never bothered to stick around long enough to find out), let alone seen one on TV.

Mila was back on screen now, walking into what looked like a vet’s office and it had Robert hoping to see the girlfriend.

_“Ames? Can we talk?”_

_“I’m working.” A curly haired brunette replied without looking up from her computer._

_“The waiting room is empty. You can take a few minutes to talk to me about this morning.” Mila said and it looked like she was doing her best to keep her temper under control. “You knew what you were getting into when you met me. You told me, me being bi wasn’t a problem for you.”_

_“It’s not!” Amy insisted. “I just don’t like seeing you all over your ex.”_

_“He’s the father of my son! He will always be in mine and Ollie’s lives in some way. He’s allowed to see his kid!”_

_“Yeah well wouldn’t it be easier for you to just go back to him? Be a nice little traditional family. Nice and easy. No difficult questions or strange looks.”_

Mila’s face fell, and Robert’s along with it.”

_“I don’t want easy. I want real. What we have is real. To me at least…”_

_“It is to me too. But… he’s always around!”_

The scene ended and Robert watched the rest of the episode, hoping to see the girls, but unfortunately they didn’t appear again. He started looking around online and soon found more information on the show and even a site and YouTube channels where people uploaded the girls’ entire story. He clicked on the video marked part 1 and got comfortable, determined to find out how they’d gotten to where they were now.

When Liv came home a few hours later, he barely noticed her.

“Hey, how’s the knee?” she asked, curling up in the armchair after dumping her coat and bag in the general vicinity of the coat rack.

“Hmm? Oh uh… it’s alright.”

“Aaron texted me to remind you to take your pain meds.”

Robert frowned.

“Why would he text you?”

“Because you weren’t answering your phone. He thought you were asleep.”

“Oh… no, no I wasn’t asleep. I was watching TV. Got a little distracted.”

“Really? I didn’t know daytime telly was that exciting.”

“It’s not. But I found this soap my mum used to watch and I sort of started watching that.”

Liv snorted.

“You watch soaps?”

“It’s good! The characters are interesting.” Robert told her and showed her the paused clip on his laptop screen. “Here, check it out.”

“Mila and Amy’s story?”

“Mila is bi, Amy is gay. There are loads of clips of Mila with her ex Will too.” Robert said, excited. “There is someone like me, on a TV show watched by millions of people every night. She owns a bakery and has a son with her ex who just moved back to the city where she and Amy live. And Amy doesn’t like her spending time with her ex.”

“You’re really into this, aren’t you?”

“I suppose.” Robert said with a shrug. “I just got excited. I’ve never seen a bi character on TV before. It’s silly, I know, but…”

“No I get it. I don’t think I know any bi characters either.” Liv said and looked at the screen again. “And besides, the girl with the curly hair is pretty cute.”


End file.
